Luca Nardi used a combination of poise and power to stun his boyhood idol and top-seeded Novak Djokovic with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win on Monday night in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open.
Nardi, who’s ranked No. 123, closed out his huge upset over the No. 1 player in the rankings with an ace. The 20-year-old from Italy dropped his racket and brought his hands to his face almost in disbelief before greeting Djokovic at the net.
Setting the tone early with his hard-hitting shots, Nardi frustrated Djokovic all evening. There was a moment when Nardi was surprised by an “in” call and casually hit the ball back over the net. It resulted in a winner and led to Djokovic complaining to the official about a potential hindrance.
To think, Nardi was nearly on his way home. He got into the field as a “lucky loser,” which is a player who stumbled on the final hurdle in qualifying but made it into the main draw as a replacement for an injured player who pulled out before the first round. In Nardi’s case, he stepped in for No. 30 Tomas Martin Etcheverry and received a bye through the opening round.
Using a combination of aggressiveness and finesse, Nardi had Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam singles champion he grew up watching, smiling and shaking his head at times in a mixture of surprise and shock.
Nardi was far from intimidated, either, answering Djokovic’s well-placed shots with well-placed returns of his own.
Earlier, Gael Monfils produced a stunning display of shot-making and showmanship to rally from a set and 3-0 down to beat former champion Cameron Norrie 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 6-3 to reach the last 16.
The 37-year-old Frenchman electrified the crowd with his creativity to set up fourth round meeting with either 19-year-old compatriot Arthur Fils or ninth seed Casper Ruud.
Norrie, who won the tournament in 2021, piled up 60 unforced errors and could not solve the unpredictable Monfils puzzle in the three hour and 15 minute affair.
Seventh seed Holger Rune beat Lorenzo Musetti 6-2, 7-6(5) and 17th-seeded American Tommy Paul sailed past Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-4 in other third round action.
Information from The Associated Press and Reuters was used in this report.